In February, Democratic Sens. Nick Hinrichsen and Lisa Cutter, along with Democratic Reps. Lorena Garcia and Rebekah Stewart, introduced SB26-097 – in plain English, a bill to decriminalize prostitution. Technically, it doesn’t legalize prostitution; it simply eliminates the consequences.
Why are these four legislators pretending this protects anyone? Hinrichsen has said current outcomes for individuals involved in sex work are harmful and that the law is doing a disservice to them and to communities. But the National Institutes of Health and numerous other sources describe the real outcomes of prostitution – outcomes that often involve violence, exploitation, trauma and long-term physical and psychological damage.
Poverty, addiction, coercion and childhood trauma – including physical, sexual and emotional abuse – frequently precede entry into the commercial sex industry. According to the FBI, the vast majority of women involved in prostitution want to leave but believe it is their only option for survival.
Prostitution is something to escape from. Renaming it as if it were a career choice denies that it degrades human beings into commodities. Yet Colorado’s Democratic Party could conceivably pass this bill.
Email these legislators and ask how removing consequences for prostitution keeps communities safer – and how it serves anyone. There is no upside to prostitution, and “Adult Commercial Sexual Activity” will never appear on a job fair brochure.
Joanna Stewart
Westminster
